Display package



N. M. SHIPPEE DISPLAY PACKAGE Oct. 19, 1965 Filed July 9, 1963 VITAMINS INVENTOR. NATHAN M. S H I PPEE WWMQ ATTORNE United States Patent 3,212,637 DISPLAY PACKAGE Nathan M. Shippee, Greenwich, Conn., 'assignor, by

mesne assignments, to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Boston, Mass., a corporation of New Jersey Filed July 9, 1963, Ser. No. 293,805 2 Claims. '(Cl. 206--78) This invention relates to display packages, and more particularly to the type comprising a frame having a window of transparent film forming a pocket containing the product to be displayed.

Heretofore, when the product to be displayed has been a container of discrete particles, such as a bottle of pills or a box of powder, the container has first been filled with the particles, and the filled container packaged in the film pocket, involving two consecutive filling and packaging operations.

It is therefore the main object of the present invention to eliminate the container by filling the product directly into the pocket.

Another object is to provide a dispenser for the filled pocket in the package.

According to the present invention, the periphery of the pocket is lined with a reinforcing wall of fibrous stock, and the pocket is shrunk into contact with the out side of the reinforcing wall and to form a fiat pane in front thereof and the material to be packaged is filled into the pocket inside of the reinforcing wall.

The package preferably comprises a front panel having an aperture through which the pocket is depressed, and also a back panel having a plastic film in front thereof and sealed thereto in back of said aperture. A dispenser opening is cut through said back panel, preferably smaller than and within the confines of said pocket, and preferably covered by said back panel film. The dispenser opening in the back panel is preferably closed by a movable reclosure, preferably pivoted to said back panel eccentrically to said dispenser opening and having a corresponding opening to register therewith in open position.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of a display package according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a rear elevation of the same;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical cross section taken along the line 33 of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 4 is a similar view of a modification.

The package is formed from flat fibrous stock such as folding boxboard, and comprises a front panel 12 and a back panel 14. The front panel 12 has an aperture 16 therethrough forming a window, leaving surrounding margins surrounding the aperture between the adjacent edges of the front panel, forming a frame for the window.

A transparent flexible plastic film 22 is applied to the back of the front panel 12 which has preferably been precoated with adhesive, and the film 22 is sealed to contacting registering portions of the front panel 12. This film covered aperture blank is first heated and then subjected to a die forming operation with pressure or vocuum or both by which the transparent plastic film 22 is drawn through the aperture 16 to form a pocket 28 as a bay window framed by the margins of the front panel 12.

The display package also preferably comprises a back panel 14 of fibrous stock such as folding boxboard. A flexible plastic film 26 preferably of greater area than the aperture 16, is sealed to the portion of the back panel 14, to register with the aperture 16. A dispenser opening 34 is cut through the panel 14, smaller than and within the confines of the aperture 16 when superimposed thereover.

The periphery of the pocket is lined by a reinforcing wall 30 of fibrous stock such as folding boxboard. The lined pocket is subjected to heat, to shrink the pocket to contact the outside of the wall 30, and to form a front pane 32 through which the material is visible. The pocket is then filled with the material to be packaged.

After the lined pocket is filled, the back panel 14 is applied thereover, and registering portions of the films are sealed to each other so that the reinforcing wall 30, front pane 32 and back panel film 26 form a package containing the material which has been filled into the packet 28.

Before such sealing, and prefer-ably during the windowing operation, a reclosure is provided for the dispenser opening 34 in the back panel 14.

In the form shown in FIGURE 3, the reclosure comprises a plug 36 and a shutter 38, preferably of substantially rigid material such as plastic pivoted together as at 40. The plug 36 has a grooved peripheral rim to snap into the opening 34, and an eccentric dispenser hole 42 within the rim. The shutter 38 has an eccentric dispenser hole 44 to register with the dispenser hole 42 in the plug 36. Also shown are a group of smaller holes 46 for dispensing smaller particles.

In the form shown in FIGURE 4, the dispenser opening 48 is smaller, and is preferably cut into the back panel 14 before the film 26 is applied thereto, so that the film 26 covers the opening 48 as a tamper-proof seal, to be broken by the consumer. In this form, the reclosure is a shutter 50 having a pivot pin extending through the back panel 14 and having an enlarged head 52 to be snapped therethrough. The shutter 50 has an eccentric opening 54 to register with the dispenser opening 48 for access to puncture the film 26 thereover. The shutter also has an eccentric imperforate portion 56 to register with the opening 48 for reclosure.

The product packaged is shown as discrete particles 36 such as vitamin pills but may be other pourable material such as a liquid or powder, or other forms such as a paste or cream, or solid article.

While the reclosure device has been described as a plastic device with a rotating pivoted closure any of a wide variety of devices can be used and they may be made of paperboard or other material. The reclosure device may be a screw cap or it may be a pouring spout such as is commonly used on boxes dispersing salt, etc.

The reinforcing wall may be of paperboard placed on any other material and it may be circular, triangular, square or any of a number of shapes.

The shrinking of the film is preferable on the reinforcing wall rather than the product. Although the sequence of shrinking the film and filling may be reversed. It is also possible that the package can be formed without a product contained therein and that the product can be inserted through a reclosure. While it has been stated that there will be a film over the back panel of the package this is not essential to some types of product which the package may contain. Also it is preferable since a hermetic seal may then enclose the entire product. It is also within the scope of the invention to utilize a separate back panel rather than a folded back panel. The sealing of the back panel may be by adhesive, film to film or other means. In the case of a film to film seal it is preferably accomplished by high frequency electric current.

What is claimed is:

1. A display package comprising a front panel of fibrous material, and having an opening therethrough, a transparent flexible film sealed to the back of the front panel and having a pocket extending forward through the front panel opening, a rigid reinforcing wall lining the pocket, a back panel having a dispensing aperture extending therethrough and registered with the inner open side of the pocket when the back and front panels are superimposed, a flexible plastic film sealed tothe front of the back panel and covering the inner side of said back panel and said dispensing aperture, said plastic film being rupturable through said aperture, said panels and the films be ing sealed together forming a sealed container having a front transparent wall extending across said reinforcing Wall and a rear reclosable dispenser registering with said aperture through which articles in the container may be removed after breaking the film on the back panel.

2. A display package as claimed in claim 1 in which' the film sealed to the back panel covers the open side of LE, panel film around the open side of the pocket to form a hermetically sealed container.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,892,541 6/59 Hahn 20678 2,899,046 8/59 Cox 20642 2,971,638 2/61 Allison et al. 20642 2,984,056 5/61 Scholl 206-80 3,025,952 3/62 Phipps 20642 3,053,383 9/62 Kahn 20642 3,064,402 11/62 Crane 20678 3,075,329 1/ 63 Swezey et a1.

said pocket and is. sealed with the margins of the front 15 THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner. 

1. A DISPLAY PACKAGE COMPRISING A FRONT PANEL OF FIBROUS MATERIAL, AND HAVING AN OPENING THERETHROUGH, A TRANSPARENT FLEXIBLE FILM SEALED TO THE BACK OF THE FRONT PANEL AND HAVING A POCKET EXTENDING FORWARD THROUGH THE FRONT PANEL OPENING, A RIGID REINFORCING WALL LINING THE POCKET, A BACK PANEL HAVING A DISPENSING APERTURE EXTENDING THERETHROUGH AND REGISTERED WITH THE INNER OPEN SIDE OF THE POCKET WHEN THE BACK AND FRON PANELS ARE SUPERIMPOSED, A FLEXIBLE PLASTIC FILM SEALED TO THE FRONT OF THE BACK PANEL AND COVERING THE INNER SIDE OF SAID BACK PANEL AND SAID DISPENSING APERTURE, SAID PLASTIC FILM BEING REPTURABLE THROUGH SAID APERTURE, SAID PANELS AND THE FILMS BEING SEALED TOGETHER FORMING A SEALED CONTAINER HAVING A FRONT TRANSPARENT WALL EXTENDING ACROSS SAID REINFORCING WALL AND A REAR RECLOSABLE DISPENSER REGISTERING WITH SAID APERTURE THROUGH WHICH ARTICLES IN THE CONTAINER MAY BE REMOVED AFTER BREAKING THE FILM ON THE BACK PANEL. 